We Help a Friend Pack Some Suitcases

If your job was helping children and adults whose lives have been disrupted by war, genocide, trauma, and incarceration, where would you start? This month, Becca Jordan-Irwin starts with a trip to the dollar store.

She’s the president (and, she jokes, janitor) of Charizomai International, a nonprofit she started to allow her to serve in a variety of ministries in a variety of capacities. This month, she’ll be a member of the Care Corps International team serving in Gulu, Uganda, caring for children who have suffered from the disruption of years of war and genocide.

Becca is on staff with Care Corps, and served with them in Gaza (“definitely the scariest place I’ve ever been,” she said. “If the border closes, you can’t get out.”), working with teachers and children. In the United States, she’s worked with refugee children and with women in prison. In all her work, she shows the love of Christ through words and deeds ranging from hugs to hospitality. We got to know her when she and her husband Dave served as our pastors at Healdsburg Community Church.

On her next trip with Care Corps, she’ll be serving alongside several other local ministries (including Sports Outreach, which is a catalyst in the recent movie Queen of Katwe) will be helping children in Gulu move through the suffering and difficulties of their lives toward a healthy future. They do this largely by means of art and play therapy techniques (which make use of those dollar store supplies) that allow the children (and even adults) to express their experiences in a safe way, enabling them to heal from past trauma.

Last year, the team was able to help around 300 children. They came from villages all around Gulu (one group of about 75 traveled in a dump truck. Others walk long distances; some don’t have shoes) for a week-long camp.

Many of the local leaders and pastors were abducted and forced to be child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army; now, they are able to share their stories to help others realize that God has better plans than what they’ve experienced in their lives so far. By openly admitting to their pasts while living a life that demonstrates the love and forgiveness God provides through Jesus, these leaders are able to help and encourage the people of their communities to accept that same love and forgiveness.

Becca told us, “A lot of times, it just helps to have our support. The biggest thing is just getting supplies to the kids.” At the same time, she added, “God uses the Care Corps staff in a powerful way.” The supplies, ranging from balls of yarn to play dough, fill the two suitcases Becca will be bringing to Gulu. The support -- emotional, financial, physical, and spiritual -- is less compact. She relies on donations of money and materials; she trusts God for the emotional, physical and spiritual strength the ministry and travel require.

I’m grateful and honored to be her friend.

Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church, Sterling, Virginia

Our timing was a bit off, so we're missing out on the fire.

In the announcements during the weekend services we attended at St. Matthew's, Trevor the youth pastor urged people to wear red the next weekend for Pentecost Sunday -- and perhaps bring a fire extinguisher, because he and Father Rob would be doing one of their favorite things: playing with fire in church.

For better or worse, Rob just used words and no Mr. Science for the weekend message while we visited. In the sanctuary ceiling, you can still see the hook used to swing a bowling bowl on a cable. There are no visible signs of the mousetrap gantlet that was set on another Sunday, but I hear rumors about the incident still circulate in Episcopal seminary halls ("What are they doing at St. Matthew's in Virginia?").

Mindy and I attended the Saturday night (contemporary) service and the 8:00 am liturgical service. She also attended the 9:30 contemporary service and the 11:00 am traditional worship, but I was more in and out since I attended a children's Sunday School class and helped with coffee and snack prep (women had the day off). The opening song for the Saturday night service was Cyndi Lauper's True Colors, and I greatly enjoyed singing along. Such songs are not new for this worship team; they've taken weekends to sing pop hits of the Beatles, the eighties, nineties, etc., and Rob tied the songs to his message and prayers. But the rest of the songs in this particular service are ones more typically heard on contemporary Christian radio.  

Rob did manage pretty well, though, with just words for this weekend's message. It was Mother's Day, which might go a long way toward explaining not blowing anything up. (Also, because it was Mother's Day, cards for mothers were available in the men's rest room -- just in case anyone forgot about the holiday.) The Gospel reading was from John 17 (the "High Priestly Prayer"), in which Jesus prays with such hope for his disciples who, from a human perspective, often seemed hopeless. Rob said that a mother's love and hope for a child often echoes God's love and hope for us. He told about his own struggles with athletics as a child, which brought him great discouragement. And yet his mother would tell him stories about a little boy named Ricky that, quite surprisingly, paralleled the life of young Robbie. Hope, in the "Little Ricky" stories, brought hope to young Rob. In the same way, God sees hope for us all.

We wanted to visit St. Matthew's because of Rob. Mindy and I knew Rob and his wife, Linda, back in our seminary days, and we've meaning to get together for a few years now (actually, frighteningly, for a few decades now.  One of the many things we love about this church and bar in every state tour is finally getting to see family and friends we've had good intentions of visiting for a long time.)

One advantage of staying at Rob and Linda's home was the opportunity to ask the questions we ask in a bar. Whenever we visit a bar we ask, "What makes for a good bar?" and "What makes for a good church?" Sometimes people ask us in bars, "Do you ask priests those questions?" Frankly, we usually don't. We certainly don't ask Baptist pastors we've just met those questions. But since I know drinking real wine (not Welch's grape juice) is part of Rob's job description, I asked him.

Sadly, Rob's attempt to answer my "What makes for a good bar" question was pretty much a fail. The problem is that Rob has never gone to bars, so he asked how others answered the question and echoed their answers.

To be fair, Virginia isn't much of a bar state. There aren't real bars here, just bars in restaurants. And Rob, though not a teetotaler, is pretty much a one drink and done guy. He hasn't given a lot of thought to the issue of what makes for a good bar.

On the other hand, he has given thought to what makes for a good church. Rob mentioned that this area, located so close to Washington D.C., was a difficult place to make friends. Many people leave for their jobs at 5:00 am and don't come home until after 8:00 pm, which leaves little time for socializing. But the church provides an opportunity for people to get to know each other.

I asked him what might be attractive to professionals in the life of the church. He said people see others who have the life they'd like; a life with healthy relationships and balance. He said church life offers mentors. He believes the Episcopal Church has an advantage over many Evangelical Churches because it doesn't promote a false sense of adequacy; the church takes Scripture seriously, but with an eye toward wholeness rather than as a rulebook for proper behavior.

Rob stressed that a good church should be welcoming, with an authentic spiritual life. Not everyone has to be on the same page, as long as they're moving in the same direction. People should be learning to live sacrificially, and the church should provide people with a sense of accountability. A good church should have a real impact on the community and the world (not just by writing checks, but through authentic relationships).

The final thing Rob mentioned was that a church should be fun, that people should be having fun together. This weekend, as he made announcements, Trevor told about learning to drive in a Honda Civic with manual transmission. He constantly stalled, making the car shake and rattle (but not roll). This led his father to earnest instruction. It led his mother to laugh uncontrollably. Later, Rob spoke with approval about this story and the importance of learning to laugh at ourselves as individuals and as a church.  

I spoke to a number of people during the weekend who affirmed that St. Matt's was living up to many of Rob's ideals for a good church. On Saturday morning I hung out with Trevor and youth group members outside a local Safeway as part of a food drive. Meredith, a high school freshman, said that over the last couple of years her family has gone through rough times, but there was always someone there for her at the church when she needed them. Another young woman, Hannah, said she came to the church with her family. Her folks had moved on to a Baptist Church because they felt more comfortable there, but Hannah loved St. Matt's, particularly the community focus, so she stayed.

When I talked with a man named Fred during the coffee hour, he affirmed Rob's hope for a place where people are kind even when they don't agree on everything. He said there are people at the church who view Scripture in a much more conservative fashion than he does, and there are even a couple of atheists in attendance, yet everyone treats each other with love and respect.

I talked with a group of ladies enjoying each other's company at a table in the fellowship hall. I asked what drew them to the church, and they said, "This." It was after noon, and several had been at church since the 8:00 am worship, but they were happy to be together.

We were quite happy, after years of anticipation, to join a weekend at St. Matt's. Even without the pyrotechnic teaching props.

Statistics

Saturday evening

5:00 pm (contemporary Eucharist)

Service Length: 59 minutes

Sermon Length: 16 minutes

Visitor Treatment: Rob introduced us at the end of the service and several people stopped to chat with us. The offering envelopes also have a place for visitor information (but we didn't turn one in until Sunday morning). During the "Peace" portion of each of the worship services, people seemed to try to greet people throughout the sanctuary, not just the one or two people around them.

Our Rough Count: 50

Probable Ushers' Count: 60

Snacks: none

Musicians: vocals (man, 2 women), electric guitar (man), electric bass (man), acoustic guitar (man), piano (woman) drums (man)

Songs: True Colors

The River

My Lighthouse
Holy

If I Stand

Impossible

Sunday morning

8:00 am (Rite I Eucharist)

Service Length: 55 minutes

Sermon Length: 15 minutes

Our Rough Count: 22

Probable Ushers' Count: 25

Snacks: donuts, muffins, cookies, fruit, lemonade, water, coffee, hot water for decaf or tea

Musicians: none

Songs: none

9:30 am (contemporary Eucharist)

Service Length: 1 hour 8 minutes

Sermon Length: 18 minutes

Our Rough Count: 135

Probable Ushers' Count: 150

Snacks: muffins, fruit, cookies, fruit hedgehogs and hummingbirds, chocolate dipped strawberries, coffee, hot water for decaf or tea, lemonade, water

Musicians: electric guitar (man), vocals (2 women, 1 man), piano (woman), acoustic guitar (man), electric bass (man), drums (man)

Songs: True Colors, The River, My Lighthouse, Holy, If I Stand, With Every Act of Love, Impossible

11:00 am (Rite II Eucharist)

Service Length: 1 hour 5 minutes

Sermon Length: 15 minutes

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none (unless you count constant loving care by Linda and Rob as we stayed at their house. We count that) We also got a personal email from the church's amazing office manager, Miriam, about a week later. 

Our Rough Count: 67

Probable Ushers' Count: 75

Snacks: same as above, with the addition of pita chips and hummus

Musicians: piano, choir (about 15 people)

Songs: Forever Praise (choir alone)

Thy Strong Word did Cleave the Darkness

Glory to God

Ticket to the Promised Land (choir alone)

Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow

Sanctus

Open the Eyes of my Heart (choir alone)

Abide with me

Stand up, Stand up for Jesus

Miles to church: 4 miles

Miles from start: 13,338

Total 2016 Miles: 13,081

Church website: http://www.stmtts.org/

Bonus Kids Say the Darnedest  Things

I was glad to sit in on the 4th-5th grade Sunday School class, taught by a man named Pete who obviously cares for the baker's dozen of students that were in attendance. I noted some wonderful things the students said, comments on the story of Paul and Silas in jail from Acts 16. About the slave girl with a spirit of divination, a young girl said, "I like to think I have a super power." In answer to the question of what Paul and Silas might have done when they were freed from their chains at midnight, "Did they become nocturnal?" And another kid misread the jailer's plea, "How can I be saved?" as "How can I be a slave?"

Saint Catherine of Siena, Austin, Texas

Last year, while we were visiting churches in California, I contacted an old school friend about the possibility of joining her for church. From her Facebook posts I figured she was still interested in spiritual things.

She replied that she and her husband no longer attended church, and it was because of the scandals. She was Catholic, so I knew she meant the incidents of pedophilia that came to light in the last fifteen years. She was far from the only person I've heard mention those truly horrible episodes as the reason they quit attending church. In the face of such evil and hypocrisy, how could anyone continue to support such an institution?

This last week, Mindy and I spent time with friends who were quite aware -- in fact, were witnesses to many abuses of authority by the Catholic clergy back in the day -- and yet continue to support and love the church. I greatly appreciated hearing their story.

Julie Buchanan was a good friend of my brother's but also a friend of mine back at Piner High School. Her husband, Dan, was the brother of classmates of ours. They graciously hosted us for our stay in Dripping Springs, near Austin, Texas. At a local hangout, The Barber Shop, Dan shared with me his experience with the Church, the Lord, and forgiveness.

Dan grew up in a family committed to the Catholic Church. His drill sergeant father, a man of great faith, made sure that they were there every Sunday, but Dan hadn't internalized that faith growing up. When Dan was eighteen, he went to a Catholic charismatic renewal meeting at a church in Santa Rosa where he heard the Word and felt changed by God's grace. There was an altar call and he was the first to go forward.

The change in his life was dramatic, and he sold all that he had to join the priest leading the meeting to go and minister in Wisconsin.  Dan helped lead worship, playing the guitar at the meetings on the trip. He had a wonderful time. Returning to California, Dan stayed with the priest. One night the priest asked Dan to join him on his bed. The priest didn't make an explicit proposition, but... Dan didn't join him and returned to Santa Rosa.

The priests in Dan's local parish thought Dan was destined for the priesthood himself, and they encouraged him to pursue the calling. But Dan continued to see things that just weren't right. He lived in a house with another priest who brought a series of young women to his room. The door was closed, so he never knew what went on, but...

Dan's parents had always put the clergy on a pedestal, but for Dan the pedestal had been kicked away. He began to feel that perhaps his faith was a farce. He went through a dark time of questioning.

After Dan married Julie, obviously the becoming a priest option for Danny was gone, but Dan and Julie remained active in the church. Sadly, episodes of clerical misconduct conduct continued as well. The most severe blow was when Dan learned that someone very close to him had been sexually abused by a priest. They raised their family, changing parishes, and continued to seek God's truth in scriptures and the Church.

Many years later, Dan again experienced great spiritual darkness and considered chucking it all. He went off on a retreat, where a spiritual mentor suggested meditating on a prayer, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, focusing on Christ's sacrifice. As Dan prayed he asked God, "Where are you now?"

It was then Dan felt God's grace fall upon Him. He heard the words, "I'm still here." He felt God take from him the hurt that had built up through the years. He felt God tell him to go home and love his family.

Dan said he's come to realized that in God's eyes the clergy are no more sacred than garbage collectors and just as susceptible to sin. Jesus called the religious leaders of His time "whitewashed tombs" but the sins of those men didn't invalidate the teaching of the Law and the Prophets. Dan still accepts the teaching of the church as true, even if many of the teachers are flawed.

Dan and Julie are, in fact, quite active at Saint Catherine of Siena in Austin. They are sponsors in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), a program in the church that teaches Catholic doctrine and practice to adults and brings them into the Body.

The morning we attended Mass with them, Julie was reading the Scripture for the service. The church conducts six masses every weekend with a different reader for each. Those readers meet every week to study the Scripture they will read in the upcoming weekend.

Dan and Julie spoke fondly of their parish priest, Father Pat, and his assistant, Father Ray. But Father Ray was home visiting family in India, and parish policy doesn't allow a priest to lead more than three masses on a weekend, so we heard a homily by Father Charlie, a priest in his eighties, who has been quite active in prison ministries.  

Father Charlie has the cadence of a Southern Baptist radio preacher and a love of acronyms (LOVE - Live On Victoriously Eternally, GOD - Good Orderly Direction, JOY - Jesus, Others, Yourself, etc.) Though Julie and Dan admitted they had heard Father Charlie preach many of the same things before, they expressed admiration for the man's love and faithfulness.

I asked Dan what he would say to those who have quit going to church because they can't forgive the actions of the Catholic clergy, particularly the incidents of abuse of children. He said he would tell them to repeat the "Our Father," meditating on every word, and have them concentrate on the passage on forgiveness. "We can't hold a grudge or pass judgment on others. When we do, we put a wall up between ourselves and God."

It was a pleasure and honor to see Dan and Julie's faithfulness in serving at St. Catherine's and even more of a privilege to see their devotion to the God of children, fallen priests and garbage collectors.

Post Script: Due to the nature of Dan's story, we ask Dan and Julie to look this over before we put it up. We used their input to make a couple of deletions and clarifications, and I'll let Dan wrap things up with an excerpt from his recent e-mail. "We forgive others even when they do not deserve our forgiveness. That is being Christ's presence in this world and prepares us for eternity." 

Statistics:

Service Length: 1 hour 10 minutes

Sermon Length: 12 minutes

Visitor Treatment: There was a greeting time after the choir sang a prelude as well as the passing of the peace later in the service. Although there was mention of a visitor's form on the website or in back of the church, we didn't see it

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none

Our Rough Count: 386

Probable Ushers' Count: 420

Snacks: none

Musicians: choir of 9 women, 4 men (including choir director) with piano accompaniment. There was also a male cantor

Songs: Lord, Make me an Instrument of Thy Peace (choir)

Lift up your Hearts

Glory to God in the Highest

Alleluia (response)

Lord, when You Came/Pescador de Hombres

The Lord be with you (chant)

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts

Five-fold Amen (response)

Lamb of God

Be Still my Heart (choir)

We are Many Parts/Muchos Miembres

Miles to church: 10

Miles from start: 2,028

Total 2016 Miles: 3,983

Church website: http://stcatherine-austin.org/